Ocean City, NJ Plus (6/30/2021)

Wednesday, June 30, 2021
How could we say 'no' to an invitation to see "Lucy the Elephant"? Our hosts, Ted and Jean R, treated us to a tour of South Jersey Shore sights. Although hot and humid, it was a bright sunny day!

We started at Cape May at the very southern tip of the state of New Jersey:

First was lunch on a breezy "dock" at the Lobster House for fresh seafood while watching fishing boats and yachts pass by. Refreshing ambiance and conversation!

Emlen Physick Estate (1879, attributed to Frank Furness
in Eastlake or Stick style) is representative of the
many Victorian-style buildings in Cape May

The Southern Mansion (1863, by Samuel Sloan
in Italianate style)

Congress Hall (1879 brick rebuild of 1816 wooden hotel)
is a historic hotel whose owner, Thomas H Hughes, was later
elected to the US Congress, thus several US Presidents,
including Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Ulysses S Grant
and Benjamin Harrison vacationed at Congress Hall

Beach Avenue is lined with Victorian-style buildings, many turned into hotels or B&Bs. Towards the north end of town are the weather-beaten shingle-sided Victorians. In many cases it is hard to distinguish the old originals from the modern facsimiles. However, the overall effect is very charming.

At Cape May Point is Sunset Beach with a giant shipwreck

Not any old shipwreck, but the stern of a concrete ship,
the SS Atlantus (1918, the second of 12 ships built by
Liberty Ship Building Co in GA); in 1926 three of the concrete
ships were purchased to create a ferry dock; however, the
Atlantus broke free of her mooring and ran aground here,
resisting all attempts to free the ship that split in three pieces

Also at Sunset Beach is the former Witmer Stone
Wildlife Sanctuary (est 1935 and named for the "last
of the great" naturalists who worked at the Philadelphia
Academy of Natural Sciences for 51 years)

For those who need a visual reminder not to litter,
here is a "billboard" illustrating how long it takes for
specific items to break down in the marine environment

World War II Lookout Tower/Fire Control
Tower #23 (1942, as one of 15 towers that
helped aim batteries of coastal artillery
stretching from N Wildwood, NJ
to Bethany Beach, DE)

Cape May Lighthouse (1859, automated
in 1946) is still in operation, although
visitors are allowed to climb to the top

From Cape May, we headed north on the Garden State Parkway, bypassing Ocean City out on its barrier island, to end up in Margate, NJ, south of Atlantic City.

Lucy the Elephant (1881, by James Lafferty to promote
his real estate developments) claims to be the largest
(albeit not real) elephant in the world and is in great shape

Lucy has a French pedicure

A photo of when Lucy was being moved two
blocks to her present location (KSS)

The Boardwalk in Ocean City

Ocean City Music Pier (1928-1929, by Vivian B Smith)

Shriver's (1898) is the oldest business on the Boardwalk
in Ocean City and is known for salt water taffy and fudge

Manco & Manco Pizza has three locations on the Boardwalk;
after we sampled their thin crust with plenty of sauce and
cheese pizza, we left to find a long line of waiting customers

We also tasted Johnson's caramel popcorn, another must-try culinary delight.

A hosta-eating rabbit (KSS)

Alas, the day must end. We are so grateful to the Rs for this adventure in new territory full of architecture, history, good eating, and "Roadside America" attractions!

Lewis & Clark Trip Days 43-46: Heading Home (6/19-22/2021)

Saturday, June 19, 2021

Today really was a driving day, with off and on rain. We went from Decatur/Forsyth, IL to Cleveland/Shaker Heights, OH.

Sunday, June 20, 2021

Happy Father's Day! A day spent with Brynne and her menagerie: Gus (dog) and Randy (cat), Boris and Roger (cockatiels).

Monday, June 21, 2021

Happy 91st birthday to Yuriko T, whom we were able to visit on her birthday, near Buffalo, NY.

Tamiko, Mom ("What's a selfie?"), and Kent

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

The last leg towards home. Stopped at the Cornell Botanic Gardens in Ithaca, NY (reciprocity with Tyler Arboretum, but there is no admission at Cornell!).

Gravel path in the "natural area" of the
Mundy Wildflower Garden

Anemone virginiana/Tall Thimbleweed

Stylophorum diphllum/Celandine Wood Poppy

Celandine Wood Poppy seeds

Rubus odoratus/Flowering Raspberry (KSS)

Diervilla lonicera/Bush Honeysuckle (KSS)

Fall Creek that winds through the Cornell University
campus empties into Cayuga Lake, one of the Finger Lakes

Penstemon digitalis/Foxglove Beardtongue (KSS)

Erigeron sp/Fleabane

Ligustrum sinense/Chinese Privet (is an invasive
in the southern United States)

Blephilia ciliata/Downy Wood-mint (KSS)

Rosa virginiana/Virginia Rose (KSS)

The main Lewis & Clark Trail trip is done, but we still have to follow some of the specimens that were sent to Monticello, home of President Thomas Jefferson! Our meandering route took us over 10,507 miles, from Media, PA back to Media, PA. William Clark estimated the expedition traveled 4,162 miles from the mouth of the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, thus it is likely they traveled over 8,000 miles from St Louis and back to St Louis.

What happened afterwards?

Meriwether Lewis was appointed governor of the Louisiana Territory. On a trip to Washington, DC in October 1809, he was found shot in the head and gut, and died of his injuries, at age 35. It is still unknown whether Lewis committed suicide or was murdered. Lewis never married and had no descendants.

William Clark was appointed as United States agent for Indian Affairs, and in 1813 as governor of the Missouri Territory. Clark was married twice and had eight children; the oldest son was named Meriwether Lewis Clark. William Clark died at age 68.

Sakagawea and Touissant Charbonneau returned to live with the Hidatsa Nation, and she had a baby girl about 1812. It was reported that Sakagawea died of putrid fever late in 1812. Charbonneau either died in an Indian attack in 1813, or lived to be 76. Either way, in 1813 his two children were signed over to William Clark as their guardian. Later there were reports of a woman who lived with the Comanches, and then returned to a Shoshone village with her sons Bazil and Baptiste before she died in 1884. This woman was said to have traveled with white men and possessed a Peace Medal.

Jean Baptiste Charbonneau lived with William Clark who sponsored his education. At age 18 he met Duke Friedrich Paul Wilhelm of Württemberg who was traveling through the United States. Jean Baptiste was invited to return to Germany with the duke, and lived there for six years. Upon his return to St Louis, Jean Baptiste took on various roles, as fur trapper, trader, guide, military scout, and gold miner. He was even appointed mayor of Mission San Luis Rey de Francia in California in 1847, but resigned after a year because it was said due to his heritage, others thought him biased in relations with the indigenous people. Jean Baptiste died at age 61, after becoming ill on a stagecoach trip in Oregon.

York, the slave of William Clark, who during the expedition experienced freedoms and equalities he would have otherwise not known, returned as a slave to William Clark. Clark hired out York to Kentucky where York could be closer to is wife. Ten years after the expedition, Clark finally freed York, who went into business for himself. He died in 1832 of cholera.

Seaman, the Newfoundland dog belonging to Meriwether Lewis, by all accounts survived the expedition and returned to St Louis. After that there is no more mention of the dog.

Lewis & Clark Trip Day 42: Springfield, IL II (6/18/2021)

Friday, June 18, 2021 (continued)

Lincoln the Surveyor Mural (2013, by Michael Mayosky)

Enlarged reproduction of The Wedding of
the Rose and the Lotus (1915, by
Vachel Lindsay as a companion piece to a 
poem he recited in 1915 to commemorate
the opening of the Panama Canal) (KSS)

First Presbyterian Church (1866-1868, by
L D Cleveland in Gothic Revival style
with Romanesque elements) was the church
attended by Abraham and Mary Lincoln

The Lincoln Home (1839) in Springfield, IL, where they lived
from 1844-1861 before moving into the White House

Lincoln Home National Historic Site preserves the houses in
the neighborhood, including the Sprigg House (c 1851) owned
by Julia Sprigg, a friend of Mary Lincoln, and whose
daughter often cared for the Lincoln sons

DuBois House (1859) belonged to Jesse K DuBois who
was the state auditor and close friend of Abe Lincoln

Campaign posters on a log cabin wagon (KSS)

Robinson House (1863-1866) of Henson Robinson, a
partner in a Springfield business selling stoves and tin ware,
and manufactured cups and plates for Civil War soldiers

Arnold House (1839) of Charles Arnold, a fellow Whig
and political ally of Abraham Lincoln

Dean House (c 1850s) was occupied by Harriet Dean,
a teacher and gardener, and her son Frederick

Rosenwald House (1853) was the boyhood home of
Julius Rosenwald who was co-owner and president of
Sears, Roebuck and Company, and whose Rosenwald
Foundation provided funding to build schools for more
than 600,000 African-Americans in the South

Spaulding Memorial Fountain commemorates
Charles H Spaulding who invented the precipitator
used in the Springfield water purification basins

Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, IL

Lincoln Monument (1868-1874, by Larkin Goldsmith Mead;,
interior reconstruction in 1930-1931 in Art Deco style)
at the Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site

Bronze recasting of the head of Lincoln
(1908, by Gutzon Borglum in marble that
is in the US Capitol Crypt); the nose
has been rubbed for good luck

Bronze prototype of the statue (1920, by
Daniel Chester French) that sits in
the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC

Inside the monument are several statues,
such as Lincoln the Soldier (1930 original
in Dixon, IL, by Leonard Crunelle) showing
Lincoln during the Black Hawk War of 1832

Lincoln the Ranger (by Fred M Torrey) also
depicts Lincoln during the Black Hawk War

Lincoln the Circuit Rider (by Fred M Torrey)

Lincoln the Debater (original in Freeport, IL
by Leonard Crunelle)

Sarcophagus, although Lincoln's body is actually interred
in a reinforced concrete vault beneath the floor,
a measure taken after an attempt to steal the body

Mary Todd Lincoln and three of their four sons are
buried at the Lincoln Monument, the oldest son,
Robert Todd Lincoln, is buried in Arlington Cemetery

At the Illinois State Fairgrounds,
The Rail Splitter (1968, by Carl W Rinnus)

A dish that originated in Springfield, IL, the "Horseshoe,"
is an open-faced "sandwich" with thick-sliced toasted bread
(Texas toast), hamburger patty, French fries (any kind)
covered with cheese sauce (we seemed to have two colors
of cheese!); it tasted pretty much just like cheese sauce!

Next: Lewis & Clark Trip Days 43-46.